MSB Mesoblast Limited

Australian shares are nearing their highest level since late October on Monday, though falling commodities prices muted gains triggered by stimulus hopes in Europe.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 5277.40, while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.8%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1%.

Markets in Japan are closed for holiday.

Expectations of more stimulus from the European Central Bank and greater certainty that the U.S. will raise rates in December have kept markets resilient, said Kevin Leung, director of equity research at Haitong Securities.

Still, the central banks' timing remains hazy, so "it's been a mixture of good and bad days" for the region recently, he added.

The gains in Australia come after ECB President Mario Draghi said Friday that the bank stands ready to deploy its full range of stimulus measures to fight low inflation, the latest sign that further easing is a strong possibility at the bank's next meeting in December.

The region's markets mostly rose last week, with Australia logging more than 4%, its best week in over a month.

Resources shares were mixed, as commodities prices come under another wave of pressure. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. rose 3.4% while BHP Billiton Ltd. fell 1.9% and Rio Tinto Ltd. lost 0.6%.

Copper prices reached their lowest since 2009 on Friday, as pressure from a firmer dollar and concerns about weak demand for industrial metals turned up selling pressure. Nickel prices fell to a 12-year low.

On Friday, U.S. stocks posted their largest week of gains in nearly a year, boosted by health-care and technology shares.

Taking that lead, health-care shares led gains in Australia. Mayne Pharma Group Ltd., Cochlear Ltd. and Mesoblast Ltd. each rose more than 2%.

Meanwhile, Australia's money markets are continuing to price out the chance of further central-bank easing, helping the Australian dollar strengthen, according to Macquarie Bank. The Reserve Bank of Australia signaled recently it sees signs of improvement in the economy, though it said there is scope to cut interest rates.

The Australian dollar was up 0.3% at $0.7220 compared with Friday's levels in Asia.

In China, new requirements that make it more expensive for local investors to buy shares using borrowed money from brokerages take effect Monday. The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges announced earlier in the month that investors will only be able to borrow an amount equal to the funds in their investment accounts, compared with twice that amount previously.

A 35% increase in margin loans since September has helped the Shanghai market rally more than 20% from its August lows. Margin loans climbed to 1.22 trillion yuan ($187.84 billion) as of Friday, according to Wind Info.

Meanwhile, some analysts say that state funds recently sold shares, after being tasked to prop up the market with buying since July. China Securities Financial Corp., which owns shares in nearly half of all listed companies, has reduced holdings in around 20 stocks and stopped buying new shares since October, according to a recent research note by brokerage Huatai Securities.

Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, was down 1.1% at $44.17 a barrel.

Gold prices fell 0.3% to $1,073.10 a troy ounce.

James Glynn contributed to this article.

Corrections & Amplifications: Markets in Japan are closed for holiday on Monday. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated markets were closed in Japan, India, the Philippines and Thailand. (Nov. 23, 2015)

Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2015 23:05 ET (04:05 GMT)

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